Posted on 02/21/25
| News Source: FOX45
Annapolis, MD - Feb. 21, 2025 - Financial pain is coming as Maryland faces a nearly 3-billion-dollar budget deficit due in large part to public education spending.
The warning signs have been there for years, but many lawmakers in Annapolis appear to have looked the other way.
On Wednesday, lawmakers from the Maryland House and Senate met in Annapolis for a joint hearing to discuss Governor Wes Moore’s proposed adjustments to the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future – the state’s landmark education reform bill passed in 2021, almost two years before Moore took office. The Blueprint pumps $30 billion additional tax dollars into public education over the first 10 years. And $4 billion additional dollars every year after that. The law, in part, increases teacher salaries, expands Pre-K and doubles teacher collaboration time.
Now, with Maryland facing a nearly $3 billion budget deficit, the massive cost of the Blueprint has come into question.
“The issues going on at the state with respect to the budget are some of the same issues going on at the county level,” said Senator Ron Watson a Democrat representing Prince George’s County.
But the financial pain inflicted on the state by the Blueprint should not be a surprise to anyone. In fact, many predicted this day would come. Former Governor Larry Hogan vetoed the bill, in 2020, in part saying, it was too expensive.
“It was a bad idea as far as timing, even though we all support education reform,” former Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot told Project Baltimore in April 2020.
Franchot agreed with Hogan saying the state cannot afford the Blueprint. Many Republican lawmakers also tried to blow the whistle.
“I think we have a lot more work ahead of us, that's for sure,” said Baltimore County Republican Bob Long in April 2020.
A year later, in 2021, the Democrat super-majorities in the Maryland House and Senate overrode Hogan’s veto and passed the Blueprint into law. Soon after, local jurisdictions began feeling the pain as they tried to find the money to pay for the mandated increases in education spending.
“It was a gut punch,” Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott said in April 2023 after learning Baltimore City would need to fund its school system by an additional $79 million.
County leaders across the state have expressed similar concerns as the mandated spending increases have come due.
In 2024, Moody’s, the credit agency, took notice and issued its own warning for the state’s fiscal future by downgrading Maryland’s financial outlook to “negative” from “stable” – stating, “The negative outlook incorporates difficulties Maryland will face to achieve balanced financial operations in coming years.” And one of the main drivers of the financial issues, according to Moody’s, is public education spending.
Now, Governor Wes Moore has proposed changes to the Blueprint. In part, the governor is recommending altering community school and special education funding while delaying the implementation of increased teacher collaborative time. These changes are being proposed in addition to tax and fee increases paid by Maryland residents.
If drastic changes are not made, Maryland’s projected budget deficit is expected to balloon from $3 billion this year to more than $6 billion in the coming years.
“My thought is why can’t we just take, and for a simple term refinance it, and start over and stretch it out,” added Republic Delegate Ric Metzgar from Baltimore County.
Sen. Paul Corderman a Republican representing Washington and Frederick County added “Obviously we’re facing a budget crisis here, a deficit that is.”
Financial pain that should come as a surprise to no one.